The distribution of copyrighted media asset content, such as television shows, movies, songs, books, etc., has always struggled to balance several competing concerns: First, the consumers of the content would like to access the content at their convenience, which may mean, for example, starting a movie at any time the user desires. Second, the providers of that content need to prevent unauthorized viewing or copying of the content. The balance occurs as providers try to offer more user convenience but in a protected manner.
A cable television service's video on demand (VOD) feature is an example of this balance. Cable television subscribers can make a VOD request at the time of their choosing, but the request can only work within the protected confines of the cable television environment. The requested VOD content is authorized for playback only on the subscriber's set-top box terminal, thereby keeping the content secure from unauthorized copying. Similarly, a cable television subscriber may use a digital video recorder (DVR) to record broadcasted content to the DVR's hard drive, and play it back at some other time, but the recorded contents of the hard drive are not accessible to devices other than the DVR. That again helps maintain security in the system.
There remains, however, an ever-present demand for greater convenience to the user, and for greater security for the content provider.